Russell White is the new commissioner of the Oakland Athletic League, the former star running back for Cal said Thursday.

White takes over for Michael Moore Sr., who stepped down as commissioner over the summer. White spent the past two years as head football coach at Castlemont High. Longtime assistant Lloyd Johnson replaces him at that post.

“I’m excited. A lot of the coaches were excited for me,” White said. “There’s going to be a good learning curve, but I’m trying to make the OAL better than it was.”

White also hopes serving in the position provides a good example for student-athletes in Oakland.

“Hopefully people will know that Russell White wasn’t the smartest guy in high school, but he figured it out,” White said.

Moore, who remains with the Oakland Unified School District as an operations officer, said White is a good fit.

“I think it’s just really awesome that he was both open, willing and available,” Moore said. “It’s such a good fit that in falls in the category of destiny.”

White was the Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Football state player of the year as a sophomore at Crespi Carmelite High-Encino in 1986 and had nearly 6,000 yards and 94 touchdowns in his high school career. He later starred at Cal and is the Golden Bears’ career rushing leader with 3,367 yards. He had a brief NFL career with the Los Angeles Rams.

“With what he did at Cal and in the NFL with needed somebody with that kind of name to the OAL higher,” Moore said.

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